No, not chips on both shoulders, just smelling the coffee with my nose.
Pitty folk like you are so blinkered. Nevermind...
Ha ha ha,
Never been blinkered in all my years inside and out of the airline industry, just aware that most of the contentious decisions are made by management not by the coal face workers who have to put up with them.
You obviously have a very wide tar brush to paint such a rosy picture.
Whilst I often wish the poor business decisions the managers make infest them with the fleas of a thousand camels I have no grudges against my fellow professional pilots in any company ...... unlike some.
Ye Gods, Blueray, someone at BA must have run off with your wife or something. You have completely lost your judgement where BA are concerned.
I have been involved in documentaries over the last 15 years, both in front of and behind the camera. I have also been a pilot, both military and commercial, for the last 26. In that time I have realised (as I am sure, we all have) that documentaries are no longer "cinema verite", but are shot, and more importantly, edited, to meet a prescribed agenda.
Does anyone remember the series "Fighter Pilot", following a bunch of wannabe fast jet boys in the early 80s? The distortions of truth that were produced in the editing suite were disgraceful.
Since then, things have got worse.
The previous "Dispatches" hatchet-job in 2000 was a confection of half truths, distortions and entrapment. It was entirely the product of an embittered ex-employee who fancied herself as a journalist, and proved nothing except that, in any organisation as large and complex as BA, if you look hard enough for something, then you will find it.
Now, needless to say, I am in BA. I agree that there are many things that BA could do better (there is a quote that can be abused out of context for a start!), BUT, having seen many other operators, I recognise that, overall we do a pretty good job. That there is room for cost saving is a truth so obvious that only a moron would feel it needs repeating. BA have got things wrong in the last year (we hung on too long in T4, and cocked up the opening of T5) and we have been held to account for these. And we have apologised.
But in the final analysis BA is tipped by Paddy Power to be one of the few airlines to survive the current economic meltdown (we have >100 - 1 odds of failing). It doesn't matter which way you slice it, that is not the product of incompetent management. And I can tell you that, from the inside, this is not an airline in crisis.
So television will once again exploit its power to make the specific (one persons comments) seem general, and the general (all airline shares are suffering) seem invisible.
Glad thats off my chest.
Now, Blueray, I have it on good authority that anger management can help overcome feelings of failure.........
Quite on the contrary, despatches has a long history of very competent and hard hitting exposures. Try looking on You tube for the Lancashire Police exposure.
A classic exposure by an undercover Police officer. A documentary where they exposed strong racism, sexism, even officers indulging in the odd Porn film while on night duty.
THe upshot, big change at Lancashire police..... I won't and don't need go further, it is not Despatches reputation in the spotlight, but that of British Airways.
It does appear that this documentary is getting a great deal of interest from BA, probationary PPruners arriving to comment drop. (no doubt BA PR dept, there are lots on here) Oh and BA have started running adverts on Channel 4, no doubt aiming to influence the cutting room floor....
So Runway clear, come back Tues, we can discuss the outcome. Oh incase your wondering, BA didn't steal my wife(worse luck) just my bags!
has a long history of very competent and hard hitting exposures.
And an equally long history of court action against its 'whistle blowing' tactics and filming antics.
Sadly, if you dig deep enough, at any company you will find cockroaches. BA is no different. The baggage shambles at T5 was a BAA debacle caused by software that hadn't been configured correctly, BA Management exacerbated the situation by arrogantly claiming that everything would work 110% from day one despite warnings from the work force. But then that doesn't make good gutter headlines does it.
why don't you all just wait and see whats in the programme.
This anti any journo stuff is becoming a bit boring. Aviation like any other industry is fair game.
Rather than continuously slag em off sometimes in an incredibly pathetic childlike manner why not show them the errors of their ways.
You are all grown up here and should realise by now that newspapers, tv programmes, magazines need to be sold to keep people in jobs and so over dramatising is the norm. We all know that and joe public knows that.
Well if there is one thing I had never expected it was to be accused of being in the BA PR department! As insults go, Blueray, that is as low as you can get. If you must know I am an FO on the B777, and I have been a regular on PPRuNe since 1996, when I was with CX.
Now, back to the topic in question.
Like everyone else, I have no idea what allegations are in the Dispatches (please note the spelling, Blueray) program. All I CAN say is that:
A.) Based on their last "expose" concerning an airline, their relationship with the truth was "arms length" at best. On the basis of past experience, then, I can expect a strong emphasis on the sensational with scant attention paid to any facts that don't corroborate the "scandal". It won't be difficult to find disgruntled passengers who have suffered at the hands of BA, and I have very sympathy with them (I too have lost bags with them), but is this unique to BA?
B.) Contrary to the assertions in the tabloid press (another part of the fourth estate that has a far from untarnished reputation for honesty) this is not an airline in crisis. Action needs to be taken, and is being taken, to prevent it BECOMING a crisis, but the share price reflects the general lack of confidence investors have in ANY business at the moment, and is not a reflection on BA per se.
So that's my pen'orth. I ceratinly look forward to tuesday when, doubtless the assertions contained in the program will be regurgitated in full on this forum. So may have some merit, but on past form from C4, I am not holding my breath....
I wonder then, in the interests of balanced investigative journalism, if they will include Virgin Atlantic in their 'investigation' into price fixing. As VA were as guilty as BA supposedly were, price fixing and colluding whilst 3 major American carriers were merrily operating under bankruptcy protection. Level competitive playing field???
But, as VA went running to teacher to tell what was going on behind the bike sheds, they come up smelling of roses. BA got the cane.
Many of the 'Sun' reading populous still believe BA to be a nationalised company along with British Rail and the Post Office.
Oh well, the old adage of 'Never let the truth get in the way of a good story springs to mind'. The absolute irony of this is that the wasteful, arrogant managers that got the company into this PR mess have either been sacked or made redundant! Coming to an airline near you soon maybe?
Runway vacated; If you have been a threader since 1996 how come you are shown as having 2 posts. You have been very quite in the past. That said you will win no discussions with some of those that discredit BA et al most of the time.
I used to be known as Veewun, but that moniker disappeared several years ago when the website was re-designed. Since then I have been an occasional lurker, but to be honest the generally infantile and ignorant level of discussion has been a pretty good incentive to stay away. This thread has confirmed my opinion!
But please, don't let me hijack the thread by trying to establish my credentials. Lets get on with the business of expressing personal prejudice and irrational dislike in an ungrammatical and illiterate manner. Trashing an airline that few have worked for but many think they know seems to be the "raison d'etre" for most posters on this site.
From the trailers and advertising of this programme so far the main thrust seems to be terminal 5 and the amount of passenger bags lost.
The facts support both issues, terminal 5, you know that building which should have been the pride of the country in fact had the whole world laughing. BA do lose more bags than any other airline.
It has nothing to do with being state owned or not, or being a large company or not. It has to do with incredibly poor management. That is not a slight or attack on the aviation professionals here from BA, who I am sure behave professionally at all times not matter the circumstances.
History does tell us though that there is never smoke without fire and considering that these are very public events further investigation into more behind the scenes activities is justified in my opinion. If BA are not as bad as many of you seem to claim then they will come out of this smelling of roses.
If they are as bad in other areas as they have been with Terminal 5 and baggage, they deserve everything they get.
Company loyalty is one thing but many of you seem to be in love with BA. Love can be detrimental to ones eyesight. However the real fact is that we will all know more after the programme.
Nice post Yamaha. Balanced and professional. Now i'd say you were a professional pilot. As for Runway clear, well if his comments and attitude are typical of BA pilots (who even I maintain respect for) then I'm glad I don't fly BA. Or maybe he's jut a new breed, as he/she said they started ot at Cathay.... enough said.
Asfor Basil, what a purile and racist post
Quote:
Do you mean the bit where the Paki Polis, in his first year, falsely accused a member of the public of racist behaviour??
Now we know Basil flies with BA (or for)and we all know the racism that goes on in the BA pilot community. See;
An the despatches programme I referred to centred on the undercover investigation conducted by a white, female WPC. It really was very good, look it up on youtube.
I think it's about time the moderator put a padlock on this thread rather than let Blueray carry on with his hysterical rantings against BA in at attempt to drum up interest in his tawdry documentary. Although this contradiction did make me laugh:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueray
of BA pilots (who even I maintain respect for)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueray
we all know the racism that goes on in the BA pilot community
Good to know that you still respect racists Blue! Can't wait to see what exciting facts about T5 losing luggage Dispatches will 'disclose' about 7 months after they were on every news bulletin and on the front page of every paper.
I don't quite get why so many people on here seem to so utterly despise BA. Maybe a lot of them are from the regions and have a chip on their shoulder that BA don't fly out of their airport so much. I can only conclude it is jealousy that BA by and large does very well and returns extremely high profits.
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BA do lose more bags than any other airline
Rubbish. They used to be the worst performing in Europe out of those that released their stats (i.e. people like VS didn't), thanks mainly to T4's and T1's aging baggage systems which have everything to do with BAA. They've now got much better baggage performance than AF, LH or KL, mainly thanks to T5 which has a very good baggage system. Punctuality is also very good now, to the extent that bmi have had to stop advertising themselves as LHR's most punctual airline, because BA have overtaken them.
Quote:
If they are as bad in other areas as they have been with Terminal 5 and baggage, they deserve everything they get.
Well, Terminal 5 is now widely accepted to be one of the best airport experiences in Europe, and the baggage is also better performing than CDG, AMS or FRA, so how that constitutes "bad" I'm not too sure.
Quote:
It has to do with incredibly poor management
Mmm, who just made over £800m profit and hit the 10% margin? Obviously very poor management there.
As for this Dispatches programme, if it goes anything by its reputation, I hope BA sue for damages, they have every right to.
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